The WORST episodes of Mama's Family
Every episode of Mama's Family ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Mama's Family!
Mama's Family mined humor from a squabbling family in the Midwestern blue collar suburb of Raytown. The noisy clan was headed by "Mama" Thelma, a buxom, gray-haired widow with sharp opinions and a sharper tongue who shared her small house with her high-strung sister Fran, a journalist for a local paper. Mama's lazy, dimwitted son, Vint, a locksmith by trade, moved in at the start of the series with his troublesome teenage children, Buzz and Sonja, after his wife run off to become a Las Vegas show-girl. Much to Mama's disgust, Vint soon took up with the flirtatious neighbor Naomi. The two where married in early 1983, and Naomi moved in too. Further uproar was caused by the periodic visits from Mama's two married daughter's, the foul mouthed Eunice and the snobbish Ellen. Ed was Eunice's Dolt of a husband. In the Fall of 86 Mama's Family returned to TV in first-run syndication. Fran had recently passed (Rue McClanahan was now starring in The Golden Girls) and Ed and Eunice had moved to Florida, leaving behind their son Bubba as he finishes his time in Juvenile Hall and forcing him to move in. Meanwhile, neighbor Iola Boylen makes the house's acquaintance and becomes a regular visitor with her unique charm.
#1 - Mama Gets the Bird
Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1988
After Uncle Oscar passes away, Mama is willed his gabby pet parrot. The bird then starts reciting verses in rhyme, which the family thinks are clues that will lead them to Oscar's rumored hidden treasure.
#2 - Workman's Holiday
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/5/1987
When Mama embarrasses Vinton at work with the "Binky Bunny" lunchbox she made for him when he was a kid, she must find a way to cure him of his trauma before he loses his job.
#3 - Mama Goes Hawaiian (1)
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/20/1988
After winning a trip to Hawaii on Jeopardy!, Mama and her family go on the trip, along with Iola. Iola and Bubba each find romance, Mama is pestered by a man she believes is a beach bum, and Naomi is confined to the hotel room with a terrible sunburn.
#4 - Mama Goes Hawaiian (2)
Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/27/1988
Vinton plays a round of golf with three men who mistakenly believe that he is a stock market insider, and his "advice" actually causes them to triple their money. To thank him, they invite him and his family to a farewell party given by their corporate boss - the "beach bum" Mama has been trying to avoid.
#5 - A Room with No View
Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/19/1987
Vint and Naomi are tired of living in the basement, so they agree to switch rooms with Bubba. Everyone is happy with the new arrangement, except Mama.
#6 - My Phony Valentine
Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/18/1989
It's Valentine's Day, and Mama falsely says she has a date so that Iola will feel free to go out. To support her lie, Mama orders an escort from "Rent-a-Gent."
#7 - For Better or for Worse
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/29/1983
Vint and Naomi get together, much to Mama's chagrin.
#8 - My Mama, Myself
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/17/1988
When the family starts thinking about selling a brooch that belonged to Grandma Crowley, her ghost (played by Vicki Lawrence) starts haunting Mama.
#9 - The Sins of the Mother
Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1988
After Bubba comes home late and drunk, Mama is enraged and gives him an excessive punishment. He does not know why she is being so irrational, until Iola tells him (via flashback) about a similar incident involving Eunice when she was Bubba's age.
#10 - Cellmates
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/26/1983
Eunice and Mama wind up in jail after they cause a disturbance at the Bigger Jigger.
#11 - There Is Nothing Like the Dames
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/17/1990
Vinton and Naomi buy an RV and plan to move to a trailer park; however, they are unable to start the vehicle once it is in the driveway. Meanwhile, Mama is planning to host a fancy backyard luncheon for an snooty society group called the Dames.
#12 - Mama on Jeopardy!
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/13/1988
Mama finds herself competing on Jeopardy!.
#13 - After the Fall
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/28/1987
Mama brings Aunt Effie home to nurse her back to health after she falls off the roof while reshingling her house.
#14 - Positive Thinking
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/30/1983
Eunice wins a role in a production at the Pepperpot Theatre, fulfilling and reigniting a lifelong desire to become an actress.
#15 - Dependence Day
Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/20/1989
After taking Mama's advice to finally stand up to her mother, only to be kicked out of her house, Iola drives everyone crazy with her quirks and well-meaning helpfulness when she moves in with the Harpers.
#16 - Pomp and Circumstance
Season 4 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/26/1988
Bubba and Mama are graduating from high school, but devastating news for Bubba forces Valedictorian Mama to ensure that she and Bubba and make it to the graduation ceremony in time.
#17 - Bye-Bye -- Baby!
Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/24/1990
When Naomi is upset about her baby being late, Mama tries to calm her down with a false story about Carl. Mama tells Iola what really happened (both the false and true versions are seen in flashback, with Carl played by Ken Berry). Later that day, Naomi goes into labor and Mama ends up delivering her baby girl, Tiffany Thelma Harper.
#18 - Black Belt Mama
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1984
Mama decides to take a self defense course after being mugged.
#19 - Fangs a Lot, Mama
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/14/1987
Naomi tries to stop Vint from joining the Mystical Order of the Cobra, an exclusive men's club, on the advice of Mama.
#20 - A Grave Mistake
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/7/1984
Mama throws a fit when she realizes they buried her husband in the wrong cemetery plot.
#21 - A Taxing Situation
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/22/1989
Vinton and Naomi persuade Mama to make some creative deductions on her income tax form, which results in a visit from an IRS agent.
#22 - Country Club
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/1983
Mama crashes Ellen's award banquet, mortifying Ellen in the process.
#23 - Bubba's Double Date
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/5/1988
Wanda Lynn, Bubba's sexy date for the prom, stands him up at the last minute and Bubba cannot find anyone else. Without Bubba's knowledge, Mama sets him up with Iola's nerdy niece, Vernette.
#24 - Mama's Layaway Plan
Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/11/1989
After coming back from a cousin's funeral where she and Effie were the only mourners, Mama starts planning her own lavish send off.
#25 - Zirconias Are a Girl's Best Friend
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/1987
When Mama becomes addicted to TV home shopping, her family must intervene when the credit card bill arrives.